The Port of Los Angeles is finishing up the Wilmington Marina Parkway along Anchorage and Shore roads.
Chuck Bennett — Staff Photographer

A chain-link fence, a hodgepodge of port signs and a tangle of unkempt bushes is what Wilmington boaters were used to seeing across the street from the marinas with live-aboard vessels.

No more.

Port officials are putting the finishing touches on the $1.2 million Wilmington Marina Parkway, a 3-acre stretch of landscaping with a paved walk and benches.

“What a huge difference, you can’t believe it,” said Donna Ethington of Wilmington who led community members in the effort to beautify the area at Anchorage and Shore roads deep inside the Port of Los Angeles.

“All the residents are going over there and walking their dogs, they’re really excited,” Ethington said.

The project includes more than 200 trees and 2,500 shrubs.

“Big Belly” trash receptacles with solar-powered compactors, open grass areas, benches, picnic tables and pet waste stations are also included on the site that is separated by a landscaped berm from a soil storage area on Anchorage.

Eventually, a youth sailing center will be built across the street.

The projects were proposed by the Pacific Unicomm Corp., a nonprofit established by Ethington, in 2008 when port officials were looking for ideas on how to spend money from a mitigation fund established after a group of environmentalists and Harbor Area residents opposed the China Shipping terminal expansion.

The $2.6 million Wilmington Youth Sailing and Aquatic Center will serve youths 8 to 18 years old from throughout the region.

While not as stunning as the 30-acre Wilmington Waterfront Park that opened in the summer of 2011, the small, tucked-away parkway at the marinas go a long way toward sprucing up the town’s appearance and quality of life, Ethington said.